A Space for Practicing Poets

Submission Guidelines

Zingara Poetry Picks seeks submissions of previously unpublished poems (on-line or in print) of 40 lines or fewerfor 2017 picks. New, emerging, and established poets are encouraged to submit and all submissions will be given careful consideration.

Please keep the following in mind when submitting your best poems:

Reading period for Zingara Poetry Picks for the first part of 2017 (January – June) will be from August 15 to December 30, 2016.Unless the deadline is extended, submissions received outside of this time period will not be acknowledged or considered. In fact, they will be deleted. Submissions for the second half of 2017 (July-December 2017) will open on February 1, 2017.

There is no fee to submit

Title of poem(s) should appear in the email subject line. Poems should be attached as unprotected word documents and mailed to zingarapoet@gmail.com

The body of the email should include a cover letter and a professional biography of 50 words or fewer written in the third person

Attach a word document with no more than three poems of 40 or fewer lines

Only one submission at a time (please wait to hear back before submitting more poems)

Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please let ZingraPoet know immediately if submitted work is accepted elsewhere

Zingara Poet does not accept previously published work

Published poets receive bragging rights and the chance to share their work with a diverse audience

Poets who are published on Zingara Poetry Pick should wait 12 months before submitting again

Do not submit if you have had a poem featured on Zingara Poetry Picks in the last 12 months.

Submissions which do not follow these guidelines will be deleted without acknowledgement

If accepted work is later published elsewhere, please acknowledge that the piece first appeared as a Zingara Poetry Pick.

What I look for in a poem:

Like all editors, I like to see interesting poems that do what they do well. Whether traditional, conceptual, lyrical, or formal, they should exhibit the poet’s clear understanding of craft and, just as importantly, revision. Very elemental poems that have not undergone effective revision will probably not make the cut. Likewise, poems which are contrived, sacrifice meaning for the sake of rhyme, feel incomplete, do not risk sentimentality (or are too sentimental), or lack tension when tension is needed, will also be dismissed. Finally, poems which perpetuate harmful stereotypes of gender, race, or class will most certainly not be considered.

A note on formatting: I am not an HTML wizard (yet). Poems that contain lines which are flush with the left margin are more conducive to publication than those which have unconventional indention or unusual margin settings. Likewise, poems which feature long lines may require additional line breaks or may require the right-scrolling function to be viewed in full.

I’m a little confused by the guidelines. If I submit three poems, do you want three word documents attached to one email, with the title of each poem in the subject line? Or, should I put the three poems in one word document, and if so, what would you like in the subject line?

Hi Richard! Thanks for your question. It’s easiest if you can submit all three of your poems in one word document, but sending them as separate documents is perfectly acceptable. Include the title of each poem separated by comma in the subject line of your email.